Gwyneth Paltrow On Her Battle With Postpartum Depression: 'I Felt Like A Zombie'

We think it’s great that the 38-year-old is opening up about the emotional nightmare her life became after giving birth to son, Moses, now 4. “I thought it meant I was a terrible mother,” says Gwyneth.

Gwyneth Paltrow talks bravely and honestly about her ordeal with postpartum depression in the February issue of Good Housekeeping. TheCountry Strong star found herself in the middle of a waking nightmare in the months following the birth of her second child, son Moses in 2006. “I felt like a zombie. I couldn’t access my heart. I couldn’t access my emotions. I couldn’t connect,” Gwyneth, 38, tells the magazine. “It was terrible.” HollyMoms, have you suffered from postpartum depression? Can you relate?

The depression took Gwyneth by surprise because she didn’t experience any problems after having her daughter, Apple, now 6, in the summer of 2004. “With her, I was on cloud nine. I couldn’t believe it wasn’t the same. It was the exact opposite of what happened when Apple was born,” admits Gwyneth, who had serious problems dealing with her emotions. “I just thought it meant I was a terrible mother and a terrible person.”

The actress was in disbelief about the baby blues. “I thought postpartum depression meant you were sobbing every single day and incapable of looking after a child. But there are different shades of it and depths of it,” she says.

Luckily, Gwyneth had the support of her husband, Coldplay singer Chris Martin, who noticed that there was a serious problem. “About four months into it, Chris came to me and said, ‘Something’s wrong. Something’s wrong,’” Gwyneth recalls. “I kept saying, ‘No, no, I’m fine.’ But Chris identified it, and that sort of burst the bubble.”

And now she wants every woman to know that it’s OK to talk about the disorder that affects so many new mothers. “I think it’s so important for women to talk about it. It was a trying time. I felt like a failure.”

HollyMoms, do Gwyneth’s words ring true with you? Have you had the baby blues?

View Comment

unilever

Posted at 8:20 PM on March 25, 2014

Absolutely agree it is a selfish disgrace and not impressed at all with the sham joint statement – its equally as bad as if they were admitting to fighting over trifles! Being nicey-nicey about it does not hide the fact they are both putting themselves way above their children in this. I would guess one party is more guilty than the other here and has possibly strayed, whilst the other is playing the nicey game for reasons of expedience. It all …. smells !